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An Exploratory Investigation of Voice Characteristics and Selling Effectiveness
Abstract
An exploratory investigation of selected voice characteristics of 21 direct salespeople revealed that rate of speaking, average pause duration, and fundamental frequency contour were significantly related to a measure of output sales performance. Although a sample of 26 housewives (who constituted the target market for the product being sold) was able to distinguish among the speaking rates of the salespeople, there was no relationship between either the housewives' perceptions of the salespeople based on their voice characteristics or between perceptions and output sales performance. Relative to a comparison group of 13 nonsalespeople, the salespeople spoke more rapidly and produced fundamental frequency contours that fell more.
... Although the prior OM and IS literature examines unstructured text data (e.g., Chen et al. 2012;Abrahams et al. 2015), the literature on vocal and video analytics has been lacking and nascent. Although the prior literature on voice characteristics find that vocal characteristics affect the credibility and persuasiveness of speech (see Burgoon et al. (1990) and Peterson et al. (1995) from social media has been limited. We introduce and incorporate various advanced methodologies and techniques to process video and audio data and provide appropriate guidance on how to design effective online review videos. ...
... Although the prior OM and IS literature examines unstructured text data (e.g., Chen et al. 2012;Abrahams et al. 2015), the literature on vocal and video analytics has been lacking and nascent. Although the prior literature on voice characteristics find that vocal characteristics affect the credibility and persuasiveness of speech (see Burgoon et al. (1990) and Peterson et al. (1995) for comprehensive review), big data analytics of visual and vocal data derived from social media has been limited. We introduce and incorporate various advanced methodologies and techniques to process video and audio data and provide appropriate guidance on how to design effective online review videos. ...
... Therefore, distinct from text reviews, video reviews embody additional vocalic cues that are not present in text data. The literature on phonetics and communications finds that voice characteristics affect the credibility and persuasiveness of speech (see Burgoon et al. (1990) and Peterson et al. (1995) for comprehensive review), which are important determinants of perceived review helpfulness. The prior literature finds that the persuasiveness of a speaker depends on the speaker's vocal cues, and experimental and empirical studies in various domains have shown that voice characteristics of a speaker, including speech rate and pitch, significantly affect the perceptions of the speaker's credibility, persuasiveness, and attractiveness (e.g., Apple et al. 1979;Burgoon et al. 1990;Hall 1980). ...
With the rapid growth and popularity of YouTube, an increasing number of consumers rely on online product review videos to obtain product‐related information. As the provision of online review videos grows and consumers increasingly rely on them for their purchase decisions, understanding factors that contribute to the perceived helpfulness of video reviews becomes critical for video review management. This paper examines how various visual and vocal characteristics of online review videos are associated with the perceived helpfulness of videos. We collect detailed observational data on 13,840 electronic product review videos posted on YouTube and employ video content analysis, speech recognition, and natural language processing techniques to extract the visual and vocal characteristics of review videos. By using econometric models, we find that the increase in visual stimulation, captured by brightness and visual dynamics, increases the perceived helpfulness of reviews. In addition, featuring reviewers’ faces in review videos increases the perceived helpfulness of videos. Consumers also perceive review videos in which reviewers express more positive facial emotions as more helpful. Furthermore, lower voice pitch and faster speech rates are associated with higher perceived helpfulness of reviews. To complement the empirical analysis and further isolate the causal effects of review brightness and pitch, we conduct controlled experiments. Overall, the findings can facilitate the management and operation of online review videos for product reviewers, businesses, review platforms, and consumers. In particular, the findings provide direct and actionable guidance to content generators who aim to create more helpful product reviews. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
... Spectral tilt, which did not affect it in Study 1, was excluded. The standard deviation of F0 [Hz] in a sentence was used as SD F0 [25]. Study 2 was examined with a 3 (mean F0: low vs. neutral vs. high) 3 (speech rate: slow vs. neutral vs. fast) 3 (SD F0: large vs. neutral vs. small) within-subjects experimental design. ...
... Although few studies have examined the relationship between speech rate and willingness to buy, Peterson et al. have examined the relationship between mean F0 and SD F0 of salespeople and sales performance [25]. They showed that there was no correlation between these features and performance, which is different from our result, but we speculate that this is due to the difference in experimental methods between speech conversion in this study and speech analysis of multiple salespeople in [25]. ...
... Although few studies have examined the relationship between speech rate and willingness to buy, Peterson et al. have examined the relationship between mean F0 and SD F0 of salespeople and sales performance [25]. They showed that there was no correlation between these features and performance, which is different from our result, but we speculate that this is due to the difference in experimental methods between speech conversion in this study and speech analysis of multiple salespeople in [25]. ...
... The human voice is a tool for conveying messages. Other than the message content itself, the characteristics in voice contribute to the non-content meaning of particular message to be conveyed [1] [2]. The non-content meaning in voice was found to be an essential component contributing to the formation of initial attitude or first impression toward the speaker [3], especially when the visual components, such as appearance or body gesture were absent as in telephone conversations [4]. ...
... The non-content meaning in voice was found to be an essential component contributing to the formation of initial attitude or first impression toward the speaker [3], especially when the visual components, such as appearance or body gesture were absent as in telephone conversations [4]. Besides, human voice has been proven to have direct [2] and indirect effect [5] on the listeners' behavioral intents. ...
... From the literature, the voice of salespeople with high selling effectiveness was always rated to be more attractive and persuasive than those with low selling effectiveness, even though the identical selling script was used [5]. Regarding temporal aspects, a speaker with fast speech rate was also perceived as more competent, knowledgeable, trustworthy and persuasive than those with slower speech rate, which made it a significant and favorable voice characteristic to enhance salespeople's selling effectiveness [2]. Speaking in a faster rate helped to convey a more competent and attractive image of the tele-salespeople, which could further promote the purchase intentions of the potential customers [5]. ...
... While interpersonal skills such as empathy and nonverbal immediacy are viewed as vital predictors of B2B sales force performance, yet solid empirical evidence corroborating this premise is somewhat scarce and existing results are also contentious (Pilling and Eroglu, 1994;Lamont and Lundstrom, 1977;McBane, 1995;Dawson et al., 1992;Peterson et al., 1995;Bagozzi, 2006;Byron et al., 2007;Sundaram and Webster, 2000;Leigh and Summers, 2002). Hence, the purpose of the present study is to address this issue. ...
... Despite the importance of nonverbal communication in B2B selling, empirical evidence on the role of nonverbal immediacy on sales force performance is limited (Sundaram and Webster, 2000). To date, this skill has yielded little empirical evidence in predicting salesperson performancewith mixed results (Peterson et al., 1995;Byron et al., 2007;Leigh and Summers, 2002). Understanding just how nonverbal immediacy influences salesperson performance is an extremely complex process, and this influence can be impacted by several factors. ...
... Understanding just how nonverbal immediacy influences salesperson performance is an extremely complex process, and this influence can be impacted by several factors. Hence, some studies stress the need for additional research on this topic (Peterson et al., 1995;Leigh and Summers, 2002). ...
Purpose
Previous studies that examined the role of empathy and nonverbal immediacy on business-to-business (B2B) salesperson performance is limited in scope and yielded inconclusive evidence. Grounded in Plank and Greene’s (1996) framework of salesperson effectiveness, this paper aims to empirically investigate the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior through which empathy and nonverbal immediacy influence sales force performance and the form of empathy (cognitive or affective) that has the most beneficial role in improving relationship (versus outcome) salesperson performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Using cross-sectional data that were collected from 422 pharmaceutical sales representatives, this study used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
Adaptive selling behavior mediates the effect of perspective taking empathy and empathic concern on relationship performance. However, the impact of empathy on outcome performance is not significant through adaptive selling behavior, but perspective taking empathy has a direct influence on outcome performance. Contrary to expectations, nonverbal immediacy is not mediated by adaptive selling behavior but has a direct and positive impact on relationship performance.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this study have several implications for recruitment, training and assessment of salespeople in a B2B context. Based on the empirical evidence, it is highlighted that firms may use different forms of empathy and nonverbal cues to promote adaptive selling behavior that impact sales force performance (i.e. outcome or relationship).
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which simultaneously examines the mediating role of adaptive selling behavior in the relationship between three antecedent variables that relate to sales force empathy and nonverbal communication (i.e. perspective taking empathy, empathic concern and nonverbal immediacy) and two aspects of B2B sales performance (relationship and outcome).
... Speech is among the most effective methods used in advertising, particularly in broadcast advertising [8]. The relationship between speech and willingness to buy is also non-linear, similar to other stimuli [9,10], and the SOR model is valid. Poon et al., while not using the PAD model, investigated hierarchically the influence of differences in pause length of male and female speech on the willingness to buy through perceived personality states [11]. ...
... The sentences were spoken by one Japanese female and one Japanese male professional narrators. The sampling frequency of the recorded speech was 22 We manipulated the mean F0, SD F0, and speech rate of the original speech [9,10]. The mean F0 was converted by a factor of 0.87 (low) or 1.16 (high) relative to the mean F0 of the sentences using WORLD. ...
The retail industries strive to enhance the willingness to buy through various elements, such as store environment, layout, and advertising. Speech is one of the most effective methods used in advertising, particularly in broadcast advertising. Our previous study indicated that the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory, using emotional states, can partially explain the effect of advertising speech on the willingness to buy. It suggests that emotional states alone are not sufficient to explain this effect. In this study, we conducted an experiment to determine whether adding semantic primitives to the emotion-mediated SOR model could completely mediate the impact of advertising speech on the willingness to buy. During the study, participants listened to speech with modified features (mean fundamental frequency (F0), speech rate, or standard deviation of F0) and rated their willingness to buy the advertised products, as well as their own emotions and semantic primitives. We found that adding semantic primitives as a mediator can completely mediate the willingness to buy from the standard deviation of F0 in the advertising speech. These results will be useful for developing speech synthesis methods aimed at increasing people’s willingness to buy.
... However, there is not a very consistent relationship between speech features and the willingness to buy. For example, Chattopadhyay et al. have showed that a faster speech rate and low pitches have influenced the willingness to buy (Chattopadhyay et al., 2003), while Peterson et al. have showed that there was no correlation between mean F0 and SD F0 of salespeople and performance (Peterson et al., 1995). Since speech is closely related to emotional states and known to affect the perceived impression or behavior of the listener (Schröder, 2001;Tsantani et al., 2016;Li and Akagi, 2018), such a nonlinear relationship between speech features and the willingness to buy may be explained using a hierarchical model. ...
... The result that fast-speech rate increases the willingness to buy is consistent with Chattopadhyay (Chattopadhyay et al., 2003)'s results. However, our results were not consistent with their finding of increased willingness to buy at a low mean F0 (Chattopadhyay et al., 2003) or with the finding of no correlation between mean F0 and SD F0 of salespeople and sales performance by Peterson et al. (1995). One reason for this difference could be that their emotional states were different. ...
Previous studies have shown that stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory can well explain the willingness to buy from stores, products, and advertising-related stimuli. However, few studies have investigated advertising speech stimulus that is not influenced by visual design. We examined whether SOR theory using emotional states can explain the willingness to buy from advertising speech stimulus. Participants listened to speech with modified speech features (mean F0, speech rate, and standard deviation of F0) and rated their willingness to buy the advertised products and their perceived emotional states (pleasure, arousal, dominance). We found that emotional states partially mediate the influence of speech features on the willingness to buy. We further analyzed the moderating effects of listeners' attributes and found that listeners' gender and age group moderated the relationship between speech features, emotional states, and willingness to buy. These results indicate that perceived emotional states mediate the willingness to buy from advertising speech.
... The authors' analysis of words demonstrates the primacy of salesperson competence in retaining a customer's interest, which in turn, drives customer purchase intent. In their paper evaluating the salesperson delivery-effectiveness relationship, Peterson et al. (1995) begin with the premise that how a sales message is communicated may be as important is what is communicated. They examine specific voice characteristics as determinants of customers' purchases, and find rate of speech (i.e., arguing that a rapid speaker is perceived as more knowledgeable and trustworthy) fundamental frequency contour (i.e., mean, variability, and contour), and loudness variability to be associated with higher sales. ...
... Bharadwaj, Noble, Tower, Smith, and Dong (2017), for instance, use Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) to extract the aforementioned 24 variables from words conveyed by movie critics in their evaluations of movies (i.e., one variable for positive emotion, one variable for negative emotion; eight variables for narrative thinking; eight variables for formal thinking; and six variables for analytic thinking). Peterson et al. (1995) draw on linguistic theory to extract how a sender conveys his message, and the characteristics of the sender's delivery yield another set of variables (e.g., rate of speech, fundamental frequency contour, and loudness variability). To assess facial activity, researchers (e.g., Liu et al., 2018) rely on Ekman and Friesen's (1978) Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to categorize a set of emotional displays (e.g., happiness, sadness, anger). ...
B2B buyers are exhibiting an increased preference to transact digitally with vendors. A topic which has yet to receive sufficient academic attention in this modern selling environment is salesperson communication effectiveness. Accordingly, this article: 1) defines digital sales interactions (DSIs) as technology-enabled, face-to-face buyer-seller exchanges; 2) proposes a typology of DSIs to set the stage to examine salesperson communication effectiveness; 3) introduces a framework that reifies the sender's auditory and visual cues that can influence receivers' thoughts (i.e., cognition, affect, intention) and activity (i.e., purchase behavior, advocacy); 4) suggests theoretical lenses that can illuminate various aspects of the salesperson's communication barrage; 5) advances how machine learning can be applied to understand what constitutes effective communication in a digital interaction by asking: to what extent does what a salesperson says (auditory cues) and how s/he says it (visual cues) impact her/his effectiveness in a DSI?; and 6) concludes by noting promising future research directions for B2B marketing researchers.
... Increased speech rate is thought to increase audience attention [8], perceptions of competence [11,48], and credibility [48,55]. Intensity, or loudness, is thought to impact perceptions of dominance [39] and persuasiveness [20], while varying levels of intensity maintain audience attention [39]. Finally, pause latency can indicate hesitation and anxiety [20] making shorter pause latencies more persuasive [5]. ...
... Increased speech rate is thought to increase audience attention [8], perceptions of competence [11,48], and credibility [48,55]. Intensity, or loudness, is thought to impact perceptions of dominance [39] and persuasiveness [20], while varying levels of intensity maintain audience attention [39]. Finally, pause latency can indicate hesitation and anxiety [20] making shorter pause latencies more persuasive [5]. ...
... Ackermann et al. (1993:242) (Reinke 1998:191 Intensity of voice affects credibility of the source significantly more under low than high involvement; intonation of voice affects credibility more under high than low involvement. (Gélinas-Chebat et al. 1996:243) Zu ähnlichen Ergebnissen kommen Peterson et al. (1995) […] slow-talking men are judged to be less truthful, fluent, emphatic, serious and persuasive, and more passive, although they are also seen as more potent. (Apple et al. 1979:724) In drei Experimenten können sie nachweisen, dass die akustischen Eigenschaf- Those who talk fast, whether they are car salespersons, characters in television and radio commercials, or friends engaged in a heated discussion, often seem to have a persuasive advantage: their fast rate of speaking seems to enhance our impressions of them as well as the impact of their persuasive arguments. ...
... Aus Tabelle (Banse & Scherer 1996, Scherer et al. 1991, Ladd et al. 1985, Frick 1985, van Bezooijen 1984 -Eisler 1968, Huggins 1972, Lehiste 1975, Meinhold 1995, oder von der Frage danach, ob Veränderungen in der Wahrnehmung von der Sprecherpersönlichkeit abhängig sind (Smith et al. 1975, Miller et al. 1976, Apple et al. 1979, Steward & Ryan 1982, Woodall & Burgoon 1983, Sharf & Lehman 1984, Burgoon et al. 1990, Peterson et al. 1995. ...
... We consider characteristics of the influencer's voice because an influencer may adjust their voice in sponsored videos (Hwang et al. 2021). We use techniques from affective computing (Scherer et al. 1973) and automated speech recognition (Eyben et al. 2010) to extract four vocal features (loudness, pitch, loudness variability, and talking duration) that may affect the viewer's perception of traits like dominance (Scherer et al. 1973), attractiveness (Fraccaro et al. 2011, and capability (Peterson et al. 1995). ...
... Moreover, by using this type of analytics, firms can investigate on how actors' (e.g., salesperson's) voice pitch affects customers' emotional responses, 91 consequently such information can be extremely useful in the examination of the salesperson's most preferred voice pitch, influencing her/his efficacy in direct contact with the customer in the shop. 92 On the other side, video content analytics (VCA) allow firms to explore the consumers' nonverbal behavior, for example, their typical movement areas during shopping, time spent in-store and movement patterns therein, and queues in real time, including the time, which consumers spend in different parts of a given shop. 93 The VCA appear also to be of great importance in marketing campaigns conducted online (e.g., in examining consumers' reactions to ads placed online), 74,94,95 where the insights provide firms knowledge and allow to select the most effective advertising designs across prospective groups of consumers. ...
Firms face challenging analytical tasks at the advent of a growing amount of unstructured big data (BD). These data lead to radical shifts in their analytical strategies and market insights. Yet, the particular types of analytical methods remain in the literature still loosely scattered. This work stresses the unstructured BD analytics, first by capturing their unique characteristics and then by proposing a model for diagnosis of the analytical methods related to unstructured data (UD) inside the firms. We focus on five interrelated research aspects, by: explaining the essence of UD with the firms' environment; identifying and classifying the most important analytical methods in organizations to better understand UD; developing a conceptual model along with measures; and diagnosing the extent to which the unstructured analytical methods, beside the structured analytics, relate with firm performance (FP). Finally, this model is investigated from perspective of the two-communities theory in reference to data scientists and marketing researchers within the organizational environment. A model is tested on the basis of complementary analytical strategies: confirmatory and multigroup factor analyses and structural equation modeling, for which data (N = 356) were collected from international online survey. Results confirm a high level of adequacy of the conceptual model and superiority of unstructured over the structured analytics leading to FP, while the scalar invariance testing proves minor differences between groups in reference to two of the analytical methods.
... Human coding of a salesperson's verbal and nonverbal cues during industrial sales calls reveals that Bnonverbal cues are most influential when verbal and nonverbal cues conflict^ (Leigh and Summers 2002, p. 48). In addition, an examination of a salesperson's nonverbal vocal cues extends prior work by incorporating multiple nonverbal acoustic features such as pitch, pitch contour, speech rate, and pause duration to find that these measures can predict sales efficacy especially well for those with faster speech rates and more pitch contour variability (Peterson et al. 1995). Even subtle salesperson interactions with customers can influence their behavior. ...
The rise of unstructured data (UD), propelled by novel technologies, is reshaping markets and the management of marketing activities. Yet these increased data remain mostly untapped by many firms, suggesting the potential for further research developments. The integrative framework proposed in this study addresses the nature of UD and pursues theoretical richness and computational advancements by integrating insights from other disciplines. This article makes three main contributions to the literature by (1) offering a unifying definition and conceptualization of UD in marketing; (2) bridging disjoint literature with an organizing framework that synthesizes various subsets of UD relevant for marketing management through an integrative review; and (3) identifying substantive, computational, and theoretical gaps in extant literature and ways to leverage interdisciplinary knowledge to advance marketing research by applying UD analyses to underdeveloped areas.
... This strong consistency documents that not only visual, but also acoustic information has a systematic relationship with a first impression. As the first impression is persistent over time and has predictive power (Ambady, Bernieri, & Richeson, 2000Peterson, Cannito, & Brown, 1995;Hecht & LaFrance, 1995), it also potentially affects relationship building. As such acoustic or visual data in first encounters are sparse and superficial, attributions and even stereotypes play an important role in the formation of likability judgments. ...
Speech stimuli from scenario-based conversations were analyzed regarding acoustic correlates of likability. Utterances from the pizza ordering scenario of the NSC corpus were selected, and the confederate’s turns were excluded. These stimuli were recorded in high quality and were subjected to third-party listeners’ ratings. Six promising acoustic parameters from related work are tested applying methods of correlation, regression, and regression trees. These parameters are average fundamental frequency, articulation rate, standard deviation of both and of intensity, as well as spectral center of gravity. The amount of variance explained remains below 50%. Results confirm variability of the fundamental frequency as dominating correlate of likable voices in male and female speakers. It is concluded that the promising acoustic parameters are not robust to stimulus duration and scenario. Therefore, it is argued to explore the applicability of locally defined and linguistically motivated parameters.
... In general, they speak louder than representatives of cluster 2 and show a higher pitch rate. This might be explained by the fact that this cluster is dominated by females, who generally speak on a higher frequency range than males (Peterson et al. 1995). Furthermore, 1 Olguin-Olguin et al. (2009) provide a more detailed elaboration on these variables. ...
Sales research has focused on enhancing selling effectiveness and performance, which largely depends on the abilities and capabilities of the sales force. Interpersonal skills consisting of verbal and nonverbal communication have been identified as a main predictor of sales performance. However, sales researchers face the difficulty of measuring and tracking nonverbal behaviors, since these messages are perceived and processed mainly unconsciously. This field study applies a novel data-collection method in sales research to automatically track nonverbal communication behaviors (i.e., kinesics, paralanguage, and proxemics) of both, the salesperson and the customer, through wearable electronic devices, sociometric badges. The findings indicate positive effects of dynamic (versus restricted/static) nonverbal cues on a salesperson’s charismatic appearance, which, in turn, yields favorable customer responses and sales performance.
... Human coding of a salesperson's verbal and nonverbal cues during industrial sales calls reveals that Bnonverbal cues are most influential when verbal and nonverbal cues conflict^ (Leigh and Summers 2002, p. 48). In addition, an examination of a salesperson's nonverbal vocal cues extends prior work by incorporating multiple nonverbal acoustic features such as pitch, pitch contour, speech rate, and pause duration to find that these measures can predict sales efficacy especially well for those with faster speech rates and more pitch contour variability (Peterson et al. 1995). Even subtle salesperson interactions with customers can influence their behavior. ...
The rise of unstructured data (UD), propelled by novel technologies, is reshaping markets and the management of marketing activities. Yet these increased data remain mostly untapped by many firms, suggesting the potential for further research developments. The integrative framework proposed in this study addresses the nature of UD and pursues theoretical richness and computational advancements by integrating insights from other disciplines. This article makes three main contributions to the literature by (1) offering a unifying definition and conceptualization of UD in marketing; (2) bridging disjoint literature with an organizing framework that synthesizes various subsets of UD relevant for marketing management through an integrative review; and (3) identifying substantive, computational, and theoretical gaps in extant literature and ways to leverage interdisciplinary knowledge to advance marketing research by applying UD analyses to underdeveloped areas.
... The same parameters have, in a number of studies, been tested experimentally relative to Non-musical sound branding product and brand recall, consumers' attitudes towards the advertised product or brand and their purchase intentions. It has, for instance, been demonstrated that the usage of lowerpitched voice leads to more favourable brand attitudes (Chattopadhyay et al., 2003;Peterson et al., 1995) and affects consumers to infer larger product sizes (Lowe and Haws, 2017), whereas the market potential of using time-compressed speech appears more uncertain (LaBarbera and MacLachlan, 1979;MacLachlan and Siegel, 1980;Moore et al., 1986;North et al., 2004;Schlinger et al., 1983). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of sound branding by developing a new conceptual framework and providing an overview of the research literature on non-musical sound.
Design/methodology/approach
Using four mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive types of non-musical sound, the paper assesses and synthesizes 99 significant studies across various scholarly fields.
Findings
The overview reveals two areas in which more research may be warranted, that is, non-musical atmospherics and non-musical sonic logos. Moreover, future sound-branding research should examine in further detail the potentials of developed versus annexed object sounds, and mediated versus unmediated brand sounds.
Research limitations/implications
The paper provides important insights into critical issues that suggest directions for further research on non-musical sound branding.
Practical implications
The paper identifies an unexploited terrain of possibilities for the use of sound in marketing and branding.
Originality/value
The paper identifies a subfield within sound-branding research that has received little attention despite its inevitability and potential significance.
... This finding has led researchers to investigate the effects of speech rate in sales and advertising contexts. For instance, a study showed that a salesman with a fast speech rate is related to an increase in sales performance (Peterson, Cannito, & Brown, 1995). In advertising research, several studies have shown that although a fast speech rate does not increase the speaker's perceived expertise, a fast speech rate leads to an immediate increase in persuasiveness, which makes fast speech rates preferable for altering listeners' general impressions (Skinner, Robinson, Robinson, Sterling, & Goodman, 1999). ...
Research on crisis communication has mainly focused on verbal aspects of organizational responses. However, the nonverbal cues of the organizational spokesperson communicating about the crisis may also influence stakeholders’ perceptions. This study examines the impact of two vocal cues, voice pitch and speech rate. In addition, the study examines how these cues affect perceptions of organizations depending on the message’s verbal content. A 2 (voice pitch: low vs. high) × 2 (speech rate: slow vs. fast) × 2 (crisis response strategy: deny vs. rebuild) between-subjects experimental design was conducted. Results show that voice pitch and speech rate affected postcrisis reputation. However, these vocal cues affected perceptions only when the organization applied a rebuild strategy (i.e., apology) and not in the case of a deny strategy. This interaction between verbal and vocal cues was partly mediated by vocal attractiveness.
... Even voice characteristics have been associated with the outcome of the service encounter. For instance, Peterson, Cannito, and Brown (1995) found that more successful salespeople articulate words rapidly and use phonetic contractions (e.g., hasn't instead of has not) as well as shorter pauses between words. In the same light, the communication style (e.g., using concrete, everyday language) may also matter such that service providers should adapt to the communication style of consumer (Lerman et al., in press;Williams & Spiro, 1985). ...
A conceptual framework examines how language influences the way consumers interact with brands. Building on a review of two decades of research in the field, this framework draws on Schmitt's model of the Consumer Psychology of Brands (2012) and integrates the language-related disciplines of psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and semiotics to convey a novel, interdisciplinary perspective to brand-related managerial concerns. Through this framework, the authors define the domain of brand linguistics, the study of language effects on consumers in brand-related settings. Brand linguistics differs from the traditional disciplines associated with linguistics in that it focuses on the consumer as a unit of analysis and utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to theory. The proposed framework recognizes the implicit emergence of brand linguistics as a subdiscipline of consumer behavior, which is in turn a subdiscipline of marketing (MacInnis & Folkes, 2010). While integrating extant knowledge on the subject, the authors generate new insights and research propositions, and provide concrete suggestions for both academics and practitioners. Moreover, they discuss how well-established findings within fundamental domains of branding might vary once an integrative approach is adopted.
... The appearance and behavior of the salespersons substantially determines which initial impression the buyer forms and how he or she perceives the service offered (Crosby, Evans, and Cowles 1990; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry 1985). In particular, the direct communication with the buyer influences the outcome of services selling (Ambady, Krabbenhoft , and Hogan 2006; Leigh and Summers 2002; Peterson, Cannito, and Brown 1995). Previous studies have scrutinized communication in terms of verbal characteristics, such as content and formal aspects (e.g., the extent, frequency, and quality of information; Ahearne, Jelinek, and Jones 2007; Mohr, Fisher, and Nevin 1996; Morgan and Hunt 1994). ...
This research analyzes how a salesperson’s regional dialect influences the efficacy of services selling. Four dialect effects are derived from theories of information processing, accent prestige theory, and social identity theory. In the first study, 92 industrial buyers, and in the second study, 126 customers evaluated salespersons after actual sales conversations. In contrast to conventional wisdom, both studies show that buyers do not generally devalue salespersons with a dialect. If speech is of high quality, a regional dialect improves satisfaction with the salesperson, rather than reducing it. Favorable sound qualities and prestigious stereotypical associations with the dialect also raise satisfaction with the salesperson. Moreover, the fit between salesperson and buyer dialects enhances satisfaction with the company and fosters purchase intention. In order to increase their persuasiveness, salespersons should be aware of the four dialect effects. Companies would also benefit from training salespersons to improve their speech quality, rather than concealing their dialect. If possible, salespersons should deliberately modify their way of speaking in all phases of the service-selling process.
... body movements). The variations in voice characteristics have been shown to influence selling effectiveness (Peterson et al., 1995). The code element is assessed through examining presentation attributes such as clarity, body language and the level of eye contact. ...
While most marketing studies have focused on what salespeople say, less is known about the persuasiveness of how they say it, particularly in the distinct contexts of customer acquisition and retention. This research investigates how salespeople’s vocal brightness and loudness influence new and existing customers’ purchase behavior. Based on two studies conducted in China (a field study using a large real-world dataset of over 8,000 telephone calls and a randomized controlled experiment), the authors find that high brightness and high loudness positively predict new customers’ purchase behavior and timing, whereas low brightness and high loudness positively affect existing customers’ repurchase behavior and timing. The authors demonstrate that perceived arousal is the underlying mechanism driving customers’ purchase behavior in customer acquisition, while perceived competence serves as a mediator in customer retention. No effect of brightness or loudness on purchase volume is observed in either customer acquisition or retention. This research makes theoretical contributions to the marketing and nonverbal communication literature. It also provides valuable managerial insights regarding how to manipulate voice features to improve sales performance.
Voice quality, or type of phonation (e.g., a whispery voice) can prime specific sensory associations amongst consumers. In the realm of sensory and consumer science, a wide range of taste-sound correspondences have been documented. A growing body of research on crossmodal correspondences has revealed that people reliably associate sounds with basic taste qualities. Here, we examined the largely unexplored associations between basic tastes and sounds: namely taste-voice quality correspondences. Across three pre-registered studies, participants associated four types of voice qualities (modal, whispery, creaky, and falsetto) with the five basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami). Study 1 investigated the relations between voice qualities and taste words. Study 2 attempted to replicate the findings and revealed the underpinning psychological mechanisms in terms of semantic/emotional associations. Study 3 used the descriptions of food products that varied in terms of their taste in order to expand the applicability of the findings. The results demonstrated that participants reliably associate specific voice qualities with particular tastes. Falsetto voices are matched more strongly with sweetness than other voices. Creaky voices are matched more strongly with bitterness than with other voice qualities. Modal voices are matched more strongly with umami than creaky voices. Evaluation/positive valence might partially underlie the associations between sweet/bitter-voice quality correspondences. Taken together, these findings reveal a novel case of sound-taste correspondences and deepen our understanding of how people are able to associate attributes from different senses.
Despite the large body of research that examines the determinants of salesperson performance, significant variation exists regarding how scholars can operationalize salesperson performance using secondary, firm-provided data. Moreover, this variation often exists without explanation or justification. We explore the issue in three parts. First, we conduct practitioner surveys to discover various salesperson performance operationalizations (SPOs) in use by salespeople and sales managers. Second, using a carefully constructed and theoretically driven evaluative framework, we conduct a systematic review of the literature on salesperson performance that encompasses over thirty years of empirical research on the subject; this review allows us to better understand the SPOs that scholars use. Third, we compare these practitioner and scholarly perspectives to create a comprehensive conceptual model of the different types of SPOs. The model highlights theoretical insights and provides guidance to scholars and reviewers related to the selection of appropriate SPOs for meeting specific research objectives.
There would appear to be varied approaches to the sales process practiced by SMEs in how they go about locating target customers, interfacing with prospects and new customers, presenting the benefits and features of their products and services, closing sales deals and building relationships, and an understanding of what the buyers needs are in the seller-buyer process. Recent research has revealed that while entrepreneurs and small business owners rely upon networking as an important source of sales, they lack marketing competencies, including personal selling skills and knowledge of what is involved in the sales process to close sales deals and build relationships. Small companies and start-ups with innovative products and services often find it difficult to persuade potential buyers of the merits of their offerings because, while the products and services may be excellent, they have not sufficiently well-developed selling skills necessary to persuade their target customers.
Speech is one of the most important modes to communicate and interact in human–human interaction (HHI). It contains semantic and pragmatic meaning, often in an underspecified and indirect way, by referencing to situational and world knowledge.
The 13th International Conference on Advances in Quantitative Laryngology, Voice and Speech Research (AQL 2019) will be held in Montreal, Canada, 3–4 June 2019. Pre-conference workshops will be held on 2 June 2019. The conference and workshops provide a unique opportunity for partnership and collaboration in the advancement of quantitative methods for the measurement and modelling of voice and speech. The AQL accomplishes this mandate by facilitating an interprofessional scientific conference and training intended for an international community of otolaryngologists, speech–language pathologists and voice scientists. With a continued drive toward advancements in translational and clinical voice science, the AQL has rapidly expanded over the past 20 years, from a forum of 15 European member laboratories to a globally recognized symposium, connecting over 100 delegates from across the world.
Bu makalede, satış sürecinde satış elemanlarının karşı tarafta algılanan ses
özelliğinin müşterinin satın alma eğilimi üzerinde bir etkisinin olup olmadığı ve bunun
güven üzerinden yönelip yönelmediği araştırılmaktadır. Müşteri ile kurulan iki taraflı
iletişim sürecinde müşteriye aktarılan ürün bilgisinin ve teknik özelliklerin ötesinde,
firmanın bir temsilcisi olarak müşteride yaratılan algı önemlidir. Bu algının iyi
yönetilmesi kuşkusuz satışın başarısını artıracaktır. Müşterinin satın alma davranışı
temelde ikna olmayı gerektirdiğinden güven etkili bir ikna yaratıcı ardıldır. Güven ise
teknik aktarım ile satış elemanını iletişim etkinliğinin bir sonucudur. Ses özellikleri de
sözsüz ve güven yaratıcı bir özellik olarak ele alınmaktadır. Bu kapsamda araştırmanın
temel araştırma sorusu bilişsel ve duygusal güven unsurlarının, satış elemanlarının ses
özellikleri üzerindeki aracı etkileriyle satın alma niyetine olan etkilerini incelemektir.
Araştırmada satış elemanlarının doğrudan satış programlarındaki sunumlarından alınan
ses kayıtları cevaplayıcılara dinletilmiş ve ses özelliklerine ilişkin değerlendirmeleri
alınmıştır. Yapılan çalışma sonucunda satış elemanlarının ses özelliklerinin tüketicilerin
satın alma niyetini bilişsel güven ve duygusal güven aracılığıyla pozitif etkilediği ve bu
iki güven unsurunun kurulan modelde kısmi aracı olarak çalıştığı ortaya konmuştur.
Ayrıca bilişsel güven unsurunun satın alma niyetine olan pozitif etkisinin duygusal
güvenden daha yüksek olduğu belirlenmiştir.
The main purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating effect of cognitive
and emotional trust on the relationship between the perceived voice specifications of the
salesperson and the purchase intentions of the customer. Beyond the product
information and technical specifications transferred to the customer, the perception
created by the salesperson as a representative of the company is also important during
the communication process. A successful management of this process will increase the
success of the sales for sure. Trust is an effective persuasive successor, as the
persuasion process is at the heart of the customer's buying behavior and reliabity is a
result of salespersons communication effectiveness. In this context, voice specifications
are considered as a non-verbal clue, which creates trust. The main research question of
the article is to examine the mediating effect of cognitive and emotional trust factors on
the relationship between consumers purchase intention and the voice specification of
salesperson. The results of the study indicate that that the salespersons voice
specifications positively effects consumers' purchase intention through cognitive trust
and emotional trust factors, and these two factors worked as a partial mediator in the
structural model. Moreover, the positive effect of the cognitive trust on the purchase
intention was found higher than the emotional trust.
Using a novel approach with video-recordings of sales interactions, this study focuses on a dynamic analysis of salesperson effectiveness in handling customer queries. We conceptualize salesperson behaviors, namely, resolving, relating, and emoting, as separate elements of customer query handling and empirically identify the distinct verbal and nonverbal cues that salespeople use to display these behaviors during sales interactions. We draw from compensation effects in social cognition theory to propose that customers’ perceptions of a salesperson’s effectiveness are prone to trade-offs between competence (resolving behaviors) and warmth (relating and emoting behaviors). Results, robust to endogeneity corrections, support the proposed tradeoffs such that the effectiveness of salesperson’s resolving behavior is significantly curtailed, even neutralized, by the salesperson’s relating and emoting behaviors. We situate these counter intuitive results within the extant theory and research on sales interactions, and outline implications for practice.
The Language of Branding: Theory, Strategies and Tactics will teach marketing students how to use language successfully to improve brand value and influence consumer behavior. The book covers the fundamentals of brand language and applications for an array of marketing initiatives. Students will learn why brand language matters, how language is used in marketing, and how to build a brand strategy that capitalizes on the richness and complexity of language. This book includes real-world case histories that demonstrate vividly how brand language is created and exercises that enable students to apply the book’s concepts and stimulate class discussion. The Language of Branding: Theory, Strategies and Tactics can be used in a number of courses, including consumer behavior, branding, advertising, linguistics, and communications.
There would appear to be varied approaches to the sales process practiced by SMEs in how they go about locating target customers, interfacing with prospects and new customers, presenting the benefits and features of their products and services, closing sales deals and building relationships, and an understanding of what the buyers needs are in the seller-buyer process. Recent research has revealed that while entrepreneurs and small business owners rely upon networking as an important source of sales, they lack marketing competencies, including personal selling skills and knowledge of what is involved in the sales process to close sales deals and build relationships. Small companies and start-ups with innovative products and services often find it difficult to persuade potential buyers of the merits of their offerings because, while the products and services may be excellent, they have not sufficiently welldeveloped selling skills necessary to persuade their target customers.
This study investigated whether information gleaned from the first two minutes of technical support telephone conversations could predict the callers’ satisfaction with the technical support person. The first two minutes of 84 calls from employees of a company to their help desk (47 technical support persons) were measured using (1) new participants who listened to or read the conversations and rated their impressions of the technical support person and their satisfaction while playing the caller role (proxy callers), and (2) other raters who rated the caller and aspects of the interaction as a whole. A word count software program (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, LIWC) was also used to examine the support persons’ communication style. Proxy callers’ satisfaction, their ratings of the support persons’ behavior (particularly on items indicative of a positive, caller‐centered behavior style), and the support persons’ use of the first person singular category of the LIWC were all significant predictors of the original callers’ satisfaction. These findings have implications for companies’ selection and training of customer support employees.
This article presents a definition and discussion of direct selling, a marketing method that has received scant attention in the literature. Direct selling is discussed from operational, tactical, and strategic perspectives, and a summary of the available knowledge about direct selling—its worldwide revenues, product and service lines sold, its customers, and its salespeople—is presented and referenced. A suggested research agenda is offered in hopes of stimulating academics, practitioners, and students to develop greater knowledge and understanding of direct selling.
This study uses a Critical Success Factor approach to evaluate a representative set of 51 selling techniques with the intent of determining what techniques are more critical to sales success for salespeople who sell homogenous products than others and what techniques are associated with failure. A set of twelve techniques were identified that distinguished salespeople in the top decile from those in the bottom decile.
Zusammenfassung Im Geschäftsalltag sind regionale Dialekte zumeist negativ konnotiert und werden, vielmehr implizit denn explizit, als nachteilig
in der Kunden-Mitarbeiter-Interaktion angesehen. Derzeit allerdings liegen kaum Erkenntnisse darüber vor, welche Wirkung ein
Dialekt eines Mitarbeiters mit direktem Kundenkontakt entfaltet. Dieser Beitrag prüft empirisch die verschiedenen Prozesse,
die ein Dialekt hervorrufen kann. Dafür wurden 48 Kunden nach der Interaktion mit einem Mediaberater befragt. Es zeigt sich,
dass der Dialekt per se kein Nachteil in der betriebswirtschaftlichen Kommunikation ist. Eine Strukturanalyse legt vielmehr
nahe, dass verschiedene direkte und indirekte Dialekteffekte die Kundenzufriedenheit bestimmen: Die Kunden beurteilen den
Mitarbeiter umso positiver, je wohlklingender der Dialekt ist und je positiver mit dem Dialekt verknüpfte stereotypische Assoziationen
sind. Die Einschätzung des Unternehmensrepräsentanten schlägt sich wiederum in der Zufriedenheit mit dem Unternehmen nieder.
Einen direkten Einfluss auf die Kundenzufriedenheit übt hingegen die Ähnlichkeit des Dialekts von Käufer und seinem Gegenüber
aus. So kann gezeigt werden, dass sprachliche Gemeinsamkeiten die Zufriedenheit mit dem Unternehmen aufgrund ethnozentristischer
Urteilsverzerrungen unmittelbar beeinflussen. Aufbauend auf den Erkenntnissen dieser Studie entwickelt der Beitrag Empfehlungen
für die Praxis (bspw. Ausgestaltung von Sprachtrainings) und leitet Implikationen für die zukünftige Forschung ab.
Missing in most of the research on selling has been an examination of the process from the point of view of the customer. When satisfaction in selling has been considered, researchers have focused on the satisfaction of the salesperson with his job and/or the impact of this job satisfaction on performance (e.g. Bluen, Barling & Burns, 1990; Churchill, Ford & Walker, 1979; Pruden & Peterson, 1971). To concentrate on salesperson performance while neglecting customers is to ignore the most important half of the relationship between buyers and sellers and entirely disregards the marketing concept and the streams of research in customer satisfaction. This research takes a different approach and examines customers’ satisfaction with salespeople.
This article identifies the selling techniques that are critical success factors (CSFs) for salespeople who sell banking products and services in Ecuador. The study examines the selling techniques that differentiate top and bottom sales performers in the Ecuadorian banking industry. Both self-reported and supervisor ratings are used to measure salesperson performance. The results suggest that differences in performance between top and bottom performing salespeople relate to the use of five selling techniques: examining records at the prospecting stage of the selling process; approaching prospects using statements about the salesperson, the bank, or the names of persons who referred the prospect; using customer friendly language during the sales presentation; being knowledgeable of the benefits of the banks’ products and being able to clarify the products’ benefits; and ensuring post-purchase satisfaction of existing customers.
The value of long-term relationships has become a widely studied variable in marketing. This article investigates two important characteristics of salespeople (consideration of future sales consequences and customer-oriented selling) and their effects on the usage of long-term relationships. In turn, associations between a long-term relationship orientation, and a preference for long-term compensation are explored. The findings suggest managerial and research implications for structuring of reward systems and potential tools for recruiting, selection and assignment of salespeople based on these characteristics.
While the effect of communication apprehension on a multitude of psychological and performance variables has been studied in many other disciplines, it has not been extensively examined by sales researchers. This article considers communication in the sales transaction from the perspective of communication apprehension, and investigates the role of communication apprehension as an indicator of a salesperson’s performance. Using ordinal logistic regression, an attempt is made to predict a salesperson’s performance based on the four contexts of communication apprehension, in a multicultural sample. The results show a small but significant effect of communication apprehension on the performance of salespersons, and some contexts of communication apprehension are found to be better predictors than others. The findings also indicate that the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension-24 scale is valid and reliable when used to establish international principles.
Because salespeople operating under an outcome-based control system are likely to be motivated by self-interest, sales quotas are believed to drive salespeople to perform unethical behavior, particularly if this behavior is deemed necessary to achieve quota. Accordingly, this article examines the relationship between perceived quota difficulty and moral judgment. Two factors potentially moderating this relationship, ethical climate and consequences for not making quota, are also considered, as well as the influence of market attractiveness and self-efficacy on quota difficulty. The analysis indicates a significant relationship between quota difficulty and moral judgment when salespeople foresee negative consequences for failing to achieve quota. Further, self-efficacy and market attractiveness affected perceived quota difficulty. Implications of the study are offered.
The impact of employee performance on customer behavioural intentions and consumption behaviour is important to service marketers. In many service settings, service organizations require emotional display and personal selling to stay competitive in todays market. Based on a review of service literature, this study investigates the effect of emotions displayed and personal selling on customer purchase amount and re-patronage intention in convenience-goods retail service settings. This work applies mystery shopper methods to data collected from a Taiwan bakery chain. Analysis of the results from 519 responded questionnaires in this study reveal that positive emotions displayed by contact personnel are unrelated to consumption expenditure, but do affect re-patronage intention. Further, the results show that personal selling negatively influences consumption amount. This study suggests that service managers consider enhancing their emotional display perspective in human resource practices, and focus on performing personal selling as a consumer need, in different service industries.
The objectives of this paper are to understand the influence of sales skills dimensions namely: interpersonal skills, salesmanship skills, technical skills and marketing skills on salesperson performance in Telekom Malaysia (TM) Berhad, a major Malaysian telecommunication corporation. Data was gathered based on quota sample of 114 salespersons in the company, and the findings show that effects of interpersonal skills positively influenced salesperson performance. However, unexpectedly, the findings also revealed that salesmanship skills, technical skills and marketing skills do not influence salesperson performance.
Personal selling and personal sales professionals use a number of tools to develop customer relationships. Among these, the sales presentation offers a number of advantages to the sales representative, including strategic advantages. Yet a review of the sales literature reveals that most research on personal selling tools tends to view the sales presentation as a tactical, not strategic, tool. Moreover, very little attention has been given to the special needs of services marketing and how sales presentations can add strategic value to the service marketing mix. This article reviews the literature on the role of sales presentations in relation to trust, relationship development, and communication theory and suggests that sales presentations may be used as a strategic tool for developing customer relationships. The value of this new strategic view of sales presentations for the marketing of services is also explored.
This article examines the nature of consumer process involvement and cognitive processing of advertising content as mediating variables between commercial message executions (e.g., broadcast time compression and expansion and using broadcast versus print media) on attitude and behavioral intentions. The article proposes a framework that builds on the prior work of Krugman, Wright, and MacInnis and colleagues; the framework includes hypotheses of an advertising execution and processing involvement interaction effect on cognitive processing of commercial messages and a substantial direct effect of cognitive processing on attitude and behavioral intention. The article includes details of an experiment testing hypotheses in the framework. The findings provide strong support of the hypotheses. Implications for advertising strategy include adopting a conservative view on the use of time compression in advertising commercials and nurturing low consumer processing involvement of commercial messages.
To date, researchers have been relatively unsuccessful in accounting for a substantial proportion of the variance in the measures of consumer behavior that have been investigated. It is posited here that one of the primary reasons for this lack of success is that most studies of consumer behavior use self-reports—answers or responses to research questions—that are often very labile. It is further posited that responses to research questions are not generally revealed (retrieved directly from memory) but rather are constructed at the time a question is asked and answered. Because they are derived from processes that are inherently constructive, self-reports are susceptible to a variety of contaminating influences that collectively constrain the ability of researchers to explain or predict consumer behavior. Several suggestions are offered for addressing response construction processes and their effects.
Voice has been neglected in research on advertising and attitude change. In an experiment with 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design (N = 279), several hypodieses derived from the Elaboration Likelihood Model and from phonetic literature were tested: 2 linguistically similar advertising messages on financial services of high (student loan) versus low (Automatic Teller Machine cards) involvement are recorded by a professional actor using 4 types of voice (2 levels of intonation of voice × 2 levels of intensity). Analysis by a system of simultaneous equations indicated that the effects of voice are different under low and high involvement. Intensity of voice affects credibility of the source significantly more under low than high involvement; intonation of voice affects credibility more under high than low involvement. Unexpectedly, characteristics of voice affect attitudes toward the advertised service and intent to buy.
This research examined the effects of personality/social skills and individual differences in expressive style on impression formation. Particular attention was given to the role of nonverbal behaviors in the formation of initial impressions. Sixty-two subjects were measured on self-report personality and communication skill scales, on posed emotional sending ability, and on physical attractiveness. Subjects were then videotaped while giving a spontaneous “explanation.” Trained coders measured five separate nonverbal cue factors displayed by the subjects in the videotapes. Groups of untrained judges viewed the tapes and rated their impressions of the subjects on scales of likability, speaking effectiveness, and expressivity-confidence. Male subjects who were nonverbally skilled and extraverted tended to display more outwardly focused and fluid expressive behaviors, and made more favorable impressions on judges, than did males who scored low on the measures of nonverbal skills and extraversion. Females who were nonverbally skilled displayed more facial expressiveness, which led to more favorable initial impressions. Sex differences may reflect basic differences in the acquisition and use of expressive nonverbal cues by males and females.
The authors report a study designed to evaluate the use of communication style by salespeople and their customers. Using a paradigm suggested by Sheth in which the communication styles of customers and salespeople are categorized as task oriented, interaction oriented, or self oriented, they assess whether communication styles are related to sales. They first develop scales to measure these styles and then test whether the styles affect the sales outcome. The results suggest that communication styles are a determinant of the success of the sales interaction.
Forty-six empirical studies directly investigating the effects of three classes of nonverbal variables (demographic cues, physical appearance, non-verbal behaviours) on performance appraisal were reviewed. In addition, relevant social psychological and communication research in the areas of person perception and impression formation was highlighted. The review indicated that the effects of non-verbal cues on person perception in general, and performance appraisal in particular, are significant and varied. The review also revealed that (a) the majority of performance appraisal literature has exclusively examined demographic cues, (b) potential interactions among the three classes of non-verbal variables have been generally ignored, and (c) most of the research is non-theoretical. In an attempt to remedy this situation, a conceptual framework within which to examine the impact of non-verbal cues on the performance appraisal process was proposed.
Research in performance has been conducted explicitly for over 40 years (and implicitly since the time of Aristotle). We know lots of little things about the topic. A major obstacle to increasing our understanding of the bigger issues in performance theory seems to be the absence of a clear agenda for research and thinking. We have been bogged down in the technology of performance assessment and have paid little attention to the theory which must support this technology (Landy et al., 1983, p. xi).
This study examined the relationships among nonverbal behaviors, dimensions of source credibility, and speaker persuasiveness in a public speaking context. Relevant nonverbal literature was organized according to a Brunswikian lens model. Nonverbal behavioral composites, grouped according to their likely proximal percepts, were hypothesized to significantly affect both credibility and persuasiveness. A sample of 60 speakers gave videotaped speeches that were judged on credibility and persuasiveness by classmates. Pairs of trained raters coded 22 vocalic, kinesic, and proxemic nonverbal behaviors evidenced in the tapes. Results confirmed numerous associations between nonverbal behaviors and attributions of credibility and persuasiveness. Greater perceived competence and composure were associated with greater vocal and facial pleasantness, with greater facial expressiveness contributing to competence perceptions. Greater sociability was associated with more kinesic/proxemic immediacy, dominance, and relaxation and with vocal pleasantness. Most of these same cues also enhanced character judgments. No cues were related to dynamism judgments. Greater perceived persuasiveness correlated with greater vocal pleasantness (especially fluency and pitch variety), kinesic/proxemic immediacy, facial expressiveness, and kinesic relaxation (especially high random movement but little tension). All five dimensions of credibility related to persuasiveness. Advantages of analyzing nonverbal cues according to proximal percepts are discussed.
Undergraduates listened to tape recorded voices of either younger (20-22 years) or older (60-65 years) male speakers who varied in their rate of speech (slow, medium, and fast). The listeners evaluated the speakers on various personality and social characteristics, made causal attributions for success or failure of the speakers in hypothetical situations, estimated speaker ages, and rated the voices on several speech parameters. Overall, faster speakers were evaluated more favourably than slower speakers, and older speakers were evaluated less favourably than younger speakers. As predicted, the estimated age of older speakers was elevated when they spoke slowly, but the strong evaluative effects predicted for rate among old speakers were not observed. The prediction that disconfirmation of expectations would lead to especially negative attitudes toward the slow-speaking younger speakers was confirmed, while the predicted favourable impact of fast speech for the older speakers received only slight support. Causal attributions were generally consistent with the other evaluations, with larger effects for speech rate than for age. The complex differences in attributions across the three situations examined suggest that the causal attribution paradigm provides a valuable framework within which to examine the situational determinants of effects for speaker age and rate of speech.
Examined both nonverbal and verbal behavior in 25 male and 15 female master's in business administration candidates as they spoke on the telephone to their boss, peer, and subordinate. Ss were instructed to have a short follow-up conversation with a person so designated. Ratings of the competence and warmth of their tone of voice and of the transcript of the conversations yielded parallel measures of both nonverbal and verbal channels. ANOVA for the competence variable yielded a significant interaction between sex of speaker and status of person spoken to, such that females' voices were rated as sounding more competent both verbally and nonverbally when they were speaking to their bosses, while males' voices were rated as more competent when they were speaking to their peers. It is suggested that females may make a conscious effort to sound more competent to the people who would be most likely to doubt their competence. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The relationship between speaking rate and attitude change was investigated in 2 field experiments with 449 Ss. Manipulations of speech rate were crossed with (a) credibility of the speaker and (b) complexity of the spoken message. Results suggest that speech rate functions as a general cue that augments credibility; rapid speech enhances persuasion, and therefore argues against information-processing interpretations of the effects of a fast speaking rate. When novel speech content was used in Exp II to prevent simple retrieval of stock counterarguments, it was observed that increased persuasion produced by fast speech could not be attributed to disruption of effective counterarguing. It is concluded that findings emphasize the importance of perceptual and evaluative factors in the persuasion process at the expense of a more rationalistic information-processing view of how man responds when confronted with an influence attempt. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The relationship between oral communication and sales effectiveness was investigated. 2 equatable groups of working sales people, a more effective "high" group and a less effective "low" group, were compared in terms of selected aspects of their communication behavior. Findings indicated that evaluations of basic oral communication skill (including listening) reliably differentiated between the 2 groups. Sales methods such as using "emotional appeals" and "dramatizing" also distinguished between the more effective and the less effective sales people. Results suggested: that evaluations of basic oral communication skill by a trained interviewer should be one valuable indicator of sales success; that communication training programs should subordinate fragmental, relatively isolated details of communication behavior to consideration of generalized communication skill; and that sales people who are inferior in basic oral communication skill will also be less effective in utilizing specialized persuasive techniques. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In a field experiment, 3 salesmen employed 6 alternative messages in attempting to sell a magazine subscription to student Ss randomly selected from the registrar's listing at a major university. 3 conversational and 3 nonconversational messages, developed from Bales's Interaction Process Analysis, were employed in a telephone selling paradigm designed to minimize extraneous nonverbal communication. Each salesman contacted prospective Ss (n = 78, 73, and 118) until he had completed 42 sales attempts, 7 per message, for which a postquestionnaire was administered. Salesman * Sales Treatment interactions indicated that perception of and success of the salesman could not be separated from the sales message. Results support balance theory and the perceived similarity hypothesis, but not the extended perceived similarity hypothesis. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Reviews research on the expression of emotion through the nonverbal (prosodic) features of speech. Findings show that emotions can be expressed prosodically, apparently through a variety of prosodic features. This communication appears to be largely the same for different individuals and cultures, suggesting that the prosodic expression of emotion is not conventional. Some correlations between dimensions of emotions (e.g., anxiety, aggression) and prosodic features are discussed; activity or arousal seems to be signaled by increased pitch height, pitch range, loudness, and rate. The possibility that prosodic contours (patterns of pitch and loudness over time) are used to communicate specific emotions is explored. A number of authors suggest that anger is communicated by an even contour with occasional sharp increases in pitch and loudness. Methodological difficulties with the acoustical manipulation of relevant auditory and articulatory features are noted. It is suggested that a major step in investigating the prosodic expression of emotion will be learning how to synthesize various articulatory and auditory features. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
In 3 experiments, 61 undergraduates listened to recordings of male speakers answering 2 interview questions and rated the speakers on a variety of semantic differential scales. The recordings had been altered so that the pitch of the speakers' voices was raised or lowered by 20% or left at its normal level, and speech rate was expanded or compressed by 30% or left at its normal rate. The results provide clear evidence that listeners use these acoustic properties in making personal attributions to speakers. Speakers with high-pitched voices were judged less truthful, less emphatic, less "potent" (smaller, thinner, faster), and more nervous. Slow-talking speakers were judged less truthful, less fluent, and less persuasive and were seen as more "passive" (slower, colder, passive, weaker) but more "potent." However, the effects of the acoustic manipulations on personal attributions also depended on the particular question that elicited the response. (29 ref)
Previous research on the effects of vocal rate on credibility and persuasion has not carefully considered several methodological and theoretical issues. An investigation was conducted that controlled for a number of methodological factors, and considered different explanatory possibilities. Results indicated more complex and constrained relationships between rate of vocalization, credibility, and persuasion than some previous research had found, and were consistent with research in the person perception literature. Support for a straightforward credibility bolstering explanation was not found, and other explanatory rationales were considered.
The authors selectively overview and review the current “state of art” in the measurement of and theorizing about nonverbal components of interactive behavior. A major function of nonverbal indicators for marketing application is seen to be the “triangulation” or validation effect, whereby unobtrusive and difficult to “manage” nonverbal behaviors can be used as a check on the validity of more easily distorted verbal measures of consumption behavior. Three major types of nonverbal behavior study are identified; the psychological or cognitive approach is cited as being of greatest potential applicability for incorporation into marketing analyses. A summary of findings generated from this psychological approach is presented as a practical guide to marketers’ observations of nonverbal interaction components. Additionally, the most advanced of the psychological nonverbal observation schemes is integrated with a theoretically compatible verbal process analysis tool to provide a first step toward “communicational analysis” in marketing, the integrated study of verbal and nonverbal interactional components for marketing prediction.
Interpersonal communication in marketing is approached from a perspective that focuses on communication signs. A classification scheme is presented and relevant literature surveyed. Directions for future research are suggested.
Voice analysis has received attention recently both in the marketing/advertising literature and among marketing research practitioners. The authors summarize the concept behind the technique and identify major concerns with its use. They draw upon research from other disciplines, particularly psycholinguistics, psychosomatic medicine, polygraphy, and acoustics for their discussion.
Few attempts have been made to analyze simultaneous behavior of both parties to a transaction. This study examines the bargaining behavior of both salesman and customer as it relates to purchase outcomes on retail appliances.
It is now possible, using electronic techniques, to speed up a radio commercial without a perceptible change in general voice quality. Results of experiments reported here suggest that radio advertisers might achieve a heightened impact, and require less time for their messages, if they use electronic speech compression.
Research on two television commercials found that time compression had only small effects on cognitive processing and postviewing attitudes. It appears that time compression can result in somewhat fewer ideas being played back in response to open-ended questions, inhibit both positive and negative attitudes toward the advertised brand, and depress positive emotional involvement with the execution. In this study time compression had no impact on consumer buying intentions.
In view of the importance of interpersonal communication in the face-to-face selling interaction, this discussion seeks to provide a more complete picture of the actual communication process by introducing a concept new to the marketing literature. The concept is relational communication, which refers to that part of a message beyond the actual content which allows communicators to negotiate their relative positions. Thus, the message sender can either bid for dominance, deference, or equality. The message receiver, in turn, can accept the bid or deny it.
Behavioral science offers some important new insights into the determinants of a salesman's effectiveness. These insights can lead to the development of more productive sales presentations and sales training programs to maximize the contribution of personal selling in the marketing communications program.
The authors use meta-analysis techniques to investigate the evidence that has been gathered on the determinants of salespeople's performance. A search of the published and unpublished literature uncovered 116 articles (the list of which is available upon request) that yielded 1653 reported associations between performance and determinants of that performance. The results indicate the determinants can be ordered in the following way in terms of the average size of their association with performance: (1) role variables, (2) skill, (3) motivation, (4) personal factors, (5) aptitude, and (6) organizational/environmental factors. When ordered according to the amount of the observed variation in correlations across studies that is real variation (i.e., not attributable to sampling error), the determinants rank as follows: (1) personal factors, (2) skill, (3) role variables, (4) aptitude, (5) motivation, and (6) organizational/environmental factors. To investigate whether the associations between each of the categories of predictors and performance could be partially accounted for by the presence of moderator variables, the results were broken out by customer type, product type, and type of dependent measure used. The results indicate that the strength of the relationship between the major determinants and salespeople's performance is affected by the type of products salespeople sell. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for sales managers and researchers.
Behavioral science offers some important new insights into the determinants of a salesman's effectiveness. These insights can lead to the development of more productive sales presentations and sales training programs to maximize the contribution of personal selling in the marketing communications program.
In view of the importance of interpersonal communication in the face-to-face selling interaction, this discussion seeks to provide a more complete picture of the actual communication process by introducing a concept new to the marketing literature. The concept is relational communication, which refers to that part of a message beyond the actual content which allows communicators to negotiate their relative positions. Thus, the message sender can either bid for dominance, deference, or equality. The message receiver, in turn, can accept the bid or deny it.
It is now possible, using electronic techniques, to speed up a radio commercial without a perceptible change in general voice quality. Results of experiments reported here suggest that radio advertisers might achieve a heightened impact, and require less time for their messages, if they use electronic speech compression.
Forms of control systems used in salesforce evaluation and based on the monitoring of outcomes or of behaviors are described, contrasted, and evaluated in terms of emerging theories in economics, organization theory, and cognitive psychology. Generally, the principles of behavior control as opposed to outcome control are found to be consistent with these theoretical perspectives with exceptions as noted, though studies of descriptive trends suggest that outcome control remains useful as a sales management philosophy. The authors conclude with a set of propositions intended to stimulate research on the managerial and behavioral consequences of the two control philosophies.
Research on two television commercials found that time compression had only small effects on cognitive processing and postviewing attitudes. It appears that time compression can result in somewhat fewer ideas being played back in response to open-ended questions, inhibit both positive and negative attitudes toward the advertised brand, and depress positive emotional involvement with the execution. In this study time compression had no impact on consumer buying intentions.
Few attempts have been made to analyze simultaneous behavior of both parties to a transaction. This study examines the bargaining behavior of both salesman and customer as it relates to purchase outcomes on retail appliances.
Historically, sales presentations with major company input in the form of audiovisuals and the like have been viewed as less persuasive than those formulated by the salesman himself. This study was designed to measure the ability of these two techniques to generate product comprehension, conviction, and buying plans. The findings reveal new potential for canned presentations.
The authors selectively overview and review the current "state of art" in the measurement of and theorizing about nonverbal components of interactive behavior. A major function of nonverbal indicators for marketing application is seen to be the "triangulation" or validation effect, whereby unobtrusive and difficult to "manage" nonverbal behaviors can be used as a check on the validity of more easily distorted verbal measures of consumption behavior. Three major types of nonverbal behavior study are identified; the psychological or cognitive approach is cited as being of greatest potential applicability for incorporation into marketing analyses. A summary of findings generated from this psychological approach is presented as a practical guide to marketers' observations of nonverbal interaction components. Additionally, the most advanced of the psychological nonverbal observation schemes is integrated with a theoretically compatible verbal process analysis tool to provide a first step toward "communicational analysis" in marketing, the integrated study of verbal and nonverbal interactional components for marketing prediction.
Today, many suppliers utilize relationship selling as an increasingly important element of their marketing strategy. The goal of the relationship selling effort is to earn the position of “preferred supplier” by developing trust in key accounts over a period of time. Relationship selling requires the learning of new skills particularly in the areas of understanding customer needs and relationship development. Coaching strategies and programs developed for teaching transactional selling skills—probing, handling objections and closing—are antiquated and in some instances dysfunctional. Coaching must now teach a new way of thinking about selling and managing. This article draws on 10 years of consulting experience in large and small corporations in North America and Europe and describes a new approach—Insight Coaching—an action oriented teaching strategy to help salespeople build trust in their key accounts.
The study focuses on assessing the impact of a salesperson's accent on people's perception of his effectiveness, including credibility, competence, friendliness, and intentions to buy. One hundred and forty-six students listened to tape recordings of three presenters speaking with Greek-accented English and three presenters speaking with standard American accent. The message was a hypothetical sales pitch for a VCR. The results indicate that, for an American audience, a sales pitch in standard American accent evoked more favorable judgments on all measured dimensions than Greek-accented English.
This study experimentally examined the effects of time compression on the partem of thoughts generated after exposure to a public-service advertisement, along with the effects on recall, beliefs, and behavioral intentions. While recall, belief strength, and behavioral intentions were essentially unaffected, compression level (0 percent, 10 percent, 20 percent, or 30 percent—expressed as the percentage reduction in playing time) did affect the pattern of coded thoughts generated after exposure to the advertisement.
Although contemporary theorists view listening as a multidimensional process, the preponderance of published empirical research on human comprehension of speeded speech is based on an outdated, unitary construct. In the present study, the impact of varying levels of time compression on three different types of listening is investigated. The results indicate that comprehensive listening performance deteriorates significantly as speech compression levels are increased while interpretive and short-term listening performance remains stable until a high degree of time compression (60%) is reached. Explanations for these findings are advanced based upon established differences between short and long-term memory processes.
Previous studies demonstrated that credibility is inferred from vocalic communication. These studies, however, may not be generalizable and have not shown vocal cues to affect persuasion. The present study utilized recordings of a speech delivered by the same speaker in two styles (conversational and dynamic). Controlling for verbal style (opinionated language), vocalic cues induced different credibility perceptions and, interacting with initial credibility structured through an introduction of the speaker, affected the message's persuasive effect.
The authors use meta-analysis techniques to investigate the evidence that has been gathered on the determinants of salespeople's performance. A search of the published and unpublished literature uncovered 116 articles (the list of which is available upon request) that yielded 1653 reported associations between performance and determinants of that performance. The results indicate the determinants can be ordered in the following way in terms of the average size of their association with performance: (1) role variables, (2) skill, (3) motivation, (4) personal factors, (5) aptitude, and (6) organizational/environmental factors. When ordered according to the amount of the observed variation in correlations across studies that is real variation (i.e., not attributable to sampling error), the determinants rank as follows: (1) personal factors, (2) skill, (3) role variables, (4) aptitude, (5) motivation, and (6) organizational/environmental factors. To investigate whether the associations between each of the categories of predictors and performance could be partially accounted for by the presence of moderator variables, the results were broken out by customer type, product type, and type of dependent measure used. The results indicate that the strength of the relationship between the major determinants and salespeople's performance is affected by the type of products salespeople sell. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for sales managers and researchers.
The present experiment tests credibility-cue and elaboration likelihood (ELM) hypotheses about the effect of compressed speech on message-based persuasion. Participants heard either a proattitudinal or a counterattitudinal message on an involving topic, delivered at a slow (144 words per minute), an intermediate (182 wpm), or a rapid (214 wpm) rate of speech. Consistent with the ELM predictions, rapid speech suppressed the tendency to rebut the counterattitudinal message and enhanced persuasion, whereas the same rapid speech rate inhibited favorable elaboration of the proattitudinal message while undermining its persuasive impact. Thus, a distinctly faster than normal rate of speech on an involving topic can either promote or inhibit persuasion by its impact on message elaboration. The generality of these speech rate effects and the conditions under which rapid speech might serve as a peripheral (i.e., credibility) cue are discussed.
It has long been recognized that oral communication is very slow, from an information‐transmitting viewpoint. For a number of years, scholars have been discussing the limitations of each medium (see Lee Loevinger's, “The Limits of Technology in Broadcasting,” Journal of Broadcasting, X:4:285, Fall 1966) or specific ways to render the spoken word over radio more efficient (see Charles Rossiter's “Some Implications of Compressed Speech for Broadcasters, Journal of Broadcasting, XV:3:303, Summer 1971). The following article describes the results of a specific experiment in this area. Lawrence Wheeless is assistant professor in the Department of Speech Communication of Illinois State University, Normal. This paper is based on his doctoral dissertation, which was directed by Prof. Raymond S. Ross of Wayne State University.
The theory of information integration was used to predict that in first impression situations, clothing/physical appearance cues, like adjective trait descriptions, have differential importance depending upon the type of judgment elicited. One hundred four college aged females viewed and responded to slides of colored line drawings of female stimulus persons. Multiple regression was used to analyze the data. In accord with the theory, it was predicted and found that a linear compilation of people's impressions of the stimulus person with one of the clothing/physical appearance cues together with people's impressions of the stimulus person with another of the clothing/physical appearance cues in every case significantly predicted (p < .001) people's impressions of the stimulus person with the two cues combined. Significance of th e research and avenues for future research are explored.
Examined the interactive effects of speech rate, dialect, and attributional context using a realistic vocal presentation. The test passage was a 153-word explanation of somewhat complex social psychological principles of language behavior that was audio-recorded as it was produced by a bidialectal male speaker in 6 forms: The speaker used either a Southeast Welsh accent or a standard British accent in each of 3 recordings that were either slow, medium, or fast. Five male and 5 female undergraduate judges were randomly assigned to each of 12 judging groups. Each of the 12 groups heard only 1 of the 6 forms of the passage. Half of the groups received their particular form of the passage with no explanation of the context in which it was generated (monolog condition). The other half of the groups (context condition) were given additional contextual information that was expected to substantially alter the effect of rate manipulations on listener judgments. Results indicate that ratings on competence adjectives such as intelligent, ambitious, and active were a monotonically increasing function of speech rate. Standard British was rated higher on competence adjectives than was Welsh. A significant interaction was found between rate and context on intelligent and ambitious, the primary competence adjectives. (53 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two groups of graduate students (
N = 64) listened to 4 radio commercials according to a rotational design. Each group heard a given commercial in either the fast or normal version and rated the spokesperson on 4 6-point semantic differential scales, based on how friendly, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and energetic they considered the spokesperson to be. Results show that the faster spokesperson was more favorably regarded and that time compression slightly enhanced listener perception. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
distinguishes between vocal cues that impart meaning to the verbal message, those that regulate the flow of verbal interaction between the participants, and those that are expressive of the speaker's background, his or her affective states, his or her attitudes and feelings toward the person being addressed, and of speech production and information processing / it is this third category of vocal cues with which the chapter is most concerned
the second part is an historical and critical review of "personality and speech" research
the third part of the chapter deals extensively with the effects of anxiety, and . . . with the effects of depression, anger, and hostility, on some vocal parameters of speech
the fourth part summarizes studies about how the relationship between two or more communicants is expressed in the vocal channel
in the fifth and last part, Siegman cites numerous studies that demonstrate that most . . . of the vocal indices . . . that have been identified as vocal correlates of affective experiences, are also affected by speech production and other cognitive processes (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Two studies examined the effects of attractiveness of voice and physical appearance on impressions of personality. Subject-senders were videotaped as they read a standard-content text (Study 1) or randomly selected texts (Study 2). Judges rated the senders' vocal attractiveness from the auditory portion of the tape and their physical attractiveness from the visual portion of the tape. Other judges rated the senders' personality on the basis of their voice, face, or face plus voice. Senders with more attractive voices were rated more favorably in both the voice and face plus voice conditions; senders with more attractive faces were rated more favorably in both the face and face plus voice conditions. The effects of both vocal and physical attractiveness were more pronounced in the single channels (voice condition and face condition, respectively) than in the multiple channel (face plus voice condition). Possible antecedents and consequences of the vocal attractiveness stereotype are discussed. p]Her voice was ever soft, gentle, and low, an excellent thing in woman.
Shakespeare (King Lear, Act V, Sc. 3)
We examined personality impressions on five NEO subscales (Costa & McCrae, 1985) as a function of senders' vocal and physical attractiveness. There were four major findings: (a) both vocal and physical attractiveness produced more favorable ratings, and these effects were more pronounced in a single channel (voice only or face only, respectively) than in a multiple channel (voice plus face); (b) the influence of attractiveness, both vocal and physical, was moderated by subscale—the effect of vocal attractiveness was most pronounced for Neuroticism and nonexistent for Agreeableness; the effect of physical attractiveness was most pronounced for Extraversion and nonexistent for Conscientiousness; (c) a vocal attractiveness physical attractiveness interaction indicated that effects of the two stereotypes were particularly strong for senders who were attractive on both channels; (d) the effects of attractiveness, both vocal and physical, diminished when judges were familiar with the target persons.
Selling is a social situation in which two people come together for a specific purpose and, in doing so, influence each other. Although customers' perceptions and outcomes have often been explored in the context of personal selling, salespersons' perceptions and outcomes have received far less attention. Each customer brings to the interaction a unique combination of personal characteristics and needs, and the influence of the customer's characteristics on the salesperson should be examined. We report on a laboratory experiment designed to assess the impact of the interactive effect of the salesperson's and the customer's level of self-monitoring on salespersons' perceptions. Results show that there is an interactive effect of the salesperson's personality and the customer's personality on the salesperson's perceptions. More positive outcomes were evident when the self-monitoring levels of the dyad partners were different. A high self-monitoring salesperson experiences greater benefits and judges the interaction more positively when the customer is a low self-monitor. Low self-monitoring salespeople judge the interaction more positively when the customer is a high self-monitor. We conclude that the attitude and behavior consistency of a low self-monitor provides clear direction to the high self-monitoring partner, who seeks cues from the partner to guide behavior.
A standard speaker read linguistically confident and doubtful texts in a confident or doubtful voice. A computer-based acoustic analysis of the four tapes showed that paralinguistic confidence was expressed by increased loudness of voice, rapid rate of speech, and infrequent, short pauses. Under some conditions, higher pitch levels and greater pitch and energy fluctuations in the voice were related to paralinguistic confidence. In a 2 × 2 design, observers perceived and used these cues to attribute confidence and related personality traits to the speaker. Both text and voice cues are related to confidence ratings; in addition, the two types of cue are related to differing personality attributes.
Several effects of the physical attractiveness stereotype were assessed in a personal selling context. In a series of three experiments it was established that: (a) More favorable selling skills are attributed to physically attractive salespersons than to their unattractive counterparts; (b) in simulated sales scenarios, buyers treat ostensibly attractive sellers more cordially and are more likely to yield to their requests than is the case for unattractive sellers; and (c) in actual solicitations for a charitable organization, attractive persons induce a compliance rate significantly higher than that induced by unattractive solicitors. Results of the experiments, which are consistent with extant literature on physical attractiveness, are discussed in terms of commercially inspired interpersonal influence.